New research suggests that the nationality of your car may affect the likelihood of it being stolen or broken into.

Research into a database of 300,000 cars in the UK by online car insurer, elephant.co.uk found that owners of German cars such as Mercedes, Volkswagens and BMWs are the most likely to be the victim of car crime.

Owners of Czech Skodas were the least likely to have their cars stolen.

Tanzie Oliver, head of elephant.co.uk, says: "Most people associate cars from different countries with different qualities - for example that German cars tend to be well engineered, Italian cars stylish and British cars classic.

"We wanted to see if there were any trends when it came down to the nationality of cars being targeted by thieves."

The research also highlighted differences between the nationality of cars most likely to be broken into and ones stolen outright.

Italian cars such as Alfa Romeos and Fiats were the most likely to be broken into, while American cars such as Chevrolets and Chryslers were the most likely to be driven away by car thieves. However, overall, German cars were the main target of car thieves.

Tanzie Oliver, said: "There are many reasons why certain cars are more popular with car thieves than others.

"It could be they are more desirable for professional thieves, or maybe their security systems are not so good and, of course, in many cases it is just that they are in the wrong place at the wrong time."

The good news for motorists is that car crime is actually falling in the UK as security devices improve and motorists become more aware of the risks involved.

However if you want to cut the risk of car crime even further, it may be worth considering buying a Skoda, a Seat or a Volvo.

Here is elephant.co.uk's complete table of theft rates for different nationalities of cars: